News

Food: Lydia Slater: Truly scrumptious: Front roe

Caviar sellers have been having a thin time of it lately, and the most insouciant gourmet cannot but feel a bit guilty eating the eggs of a fish that’s heading inexorably towards extinction.

But, for fans of fish jam, there is some good news on the horizon. In Kazakhstan, attempts are being made to farm the endangered beluga sturgeon from cradle to grave. And, while we’re waiting (in the wild, beluga don’t spawn until they’re about 30 years old), Caviar Kaspia (020 7493 2612; www.caviarkaspia.com) has just introduced Spring Caviar, from the eggs of a different breed of sturgeon that are farmed in the Gironde, France. “We call it ecofriendly caviar,” says Stephane Vohl, Kaspia’s general manager. The large eggs are unpasteurised and freshly harvested, which gives them a creamy, melt-in-the-mouth taste, and they are almost affordable at £26 for 30g (compared to £37.50 for sevruga and £88 for beluga).